Brock’s Information Technology Services (ITS) team is advising students, faculty and staff to be aware of a rise in cybercriminals posing as the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) this tax season.

These scammers aim to trick individuals into making payments for fake debts or sharing personal information that can be used for fraudulent activities.

Users should be particularly wary of convincing and often threatening phone calls, emails and text messages that:

• Promise a tax refund that must be claimed by clicking on a link and filling out an online form or providing information by phone.
• Demanding a tax payment or threatening to send a tax file to a debt collection agency if immediate action is not taken.

The CRA will never:

• Send emails with links asking individuals to provide personal or financial information.
• Email or text a link to a tax refund.
• Threaten to involve the police or have an individual arrested.
• Demand payment via Interac e-transfer, bitcoin, prepaid credit cards or gift cards.
• Send texts or instant messages to start a conversation with taxpayers about their taxes or benefits under any circumstance.

Anyone who receives a suspicious text, phone call or email should contact the CRA directly or log in to their online CRA account to verify the claim. Users who suspect they’d inadvertently shared financial information with a scammer should contact their financial institutions immediately.

Brock community members can also reach out to ITS with questions or forward suspicious messages to [email protected] for the IT Security team to investigate.